The Highs and Lows of Football Manager

Author: Extra Time FM

If you’ve missed an episode, why not take a look at my Episode Guide. Here you will find all the episodes of this story all in one place.

Welcome back to my Football Manager 2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers Story.

Season 4, Episode 48

Season 4 is finally wrapped up, and what a season we’ve had. We won the domestic double by beating Arsenal in the FA Cup Final with a nail-biting penalty shootout, while romped to our first title since 1959 by being 13 points clear.

87 points in the league isn’t a huge tally. We still drew 9 games and lost 3, but it was the total inconsistency from the other major teams in the league that helped us secure the title so easily.

Liverpool’s defence of their title was shocking in all honesty. Their formed resulted in Jurgen Klopp, the man who secured three back-to-back titles for Liverpool, getting the sack. Steven Gerrard has replaced Klopp on a full time basis and only had 5 games left to work with. Three wins and two losses to show for his efforts, but he will be fully judged next season.

While our plan is of course to defend our title next season, I know how tough that will be. I have no doubt the teams will be better next season and we have to be ready for that.

If you’ve missed an episode, why not take a look at my Episode Guide. Here you will find all the episodes of this story all in one place.

Welcome back to my Football Manager 2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers Story.

Season 4, Episode 47

Despite our Champions League exit to the hands of Real Madrid, we are still very much on course for a successful season. The league title is just one win away while we have a 2nd shot at winning the FA Cup as we take on Arsenal in our very last game.

It’s been a remarkable four years with Wolves which has seen mostly highs. Our rise as a football club is unprecedented and I only have dreams of going even higher.

But first, we have the end of the season to contend with. There’s no place for complacency. A domestic double is within our grasp!

For a team that boasts the likes of Mahrez, Tielemans, Zaha and Ndidi, Leicester have been extremely appalling this season. They’re 8 points safe of relegation with two games in hand over 18th West Brom so they should avoid the drop – however its indefensible the position they find themselves in.

If you’ve missed an episode, why not take a look at my Episode Guide. Here you will find all the episodes of this story all in one place.

Welcome back to my Football Manager 2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers Story.

Season 4, Episode 46

The past couple of months we’ve really been able to put some serious distance between us and whoever is placed 2nd in the table. The traditional ‘top six’ teams have been incredibly inconsistent this year which is a huge surprise – whereas we have been very solid at the back while scoring enough to see us win matches.

This month has a lot in store for us as we have a busy schedule which will feature 8 matches across 3 competitions. Staying injury free is a must if we are to continue our success and I will be keeping a close eye on my players fitness levels to try and ward away any unnecessary injuries.

We embark on our run of five incredibly tough fixtures back-to-back with a home tie against Manchester United. Although they sit 11 points behind us, I’m still very wary of their squad. They have some unbelievable talent, and we must be on top of our game today to come away with anything.

If you’ve missed an episode, why not take a look at my Episode Guide. Here you will find all the episodes of this story all in one place.

Welcome back to my Football Manager 2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers Story.

Season 4, Episode 45

Last month was huge for us as we somehow opened up a 10 point gap at the top of the table. Had you said we would have been in this position at the start of the season, I would have laughed you out the door.

Tottenham are still 2nd despite not winning in the league in 5 matches – I think that just goes to show how inconsistent everyone else has been too.

The media are playing up our title challenge similar to that of Leicester’s back in the 2015/16 season. But we cannot let that get to our heads. We need to focus on just the one game as it comes. Situations can turn around very quickly in football, and we cannot be distracted.

A short month for fixtures, but important nonetheless. We aim to reach the Quarter Final of the Champions League while also aiming for the Semi-Final of the FA Cup. So without any further ado, let’s crack on with the fixtures.

We’re back to our usual squad after making so many chances in the 5-3 extra time win over Bournemouth last time out. Stoke have done fairly well against me in the six games we’ve faced each other. Three wins, one draw and two losses for our side. Despite them being 15th, we cannot be overzealous with our attacking approach.

If you’ve missed an episode, why not take a look at my Episode Guide. Here you will find all the episodes of this story all in one place.

Welcome back to my Football Manager 2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers Story.

Season 4, Episode 44

Our unbeaten run continued last month as we push for a title charge. We’ve hovered around 2nd and 3rd all season but with a lot of games to be played this month, we could hop over Spurs and grab that 1st place for ourselves.

We need a fully fit squad to win the title so I will be trying to manage our players fitness levels to the best of my ability. We cannot run them into the ground. It’s a marathon, not a sprint.

Watford have been quite the surprise this season, and they currently unbeaten in 5 (all competitions). Our away form is an issue for us so far this season so going into this match we have to be fully focused. Our form on the whole has been fantastic since we haven’t lost a match in all competitions since September. But we have relied on last minutes winners of late and it’s an aspect of our game where the luck will run out.

If you’ve missed an episode, why not take a look at my Episode Guide. Here you will find all the episodes of this story all in one place.

Welcome back to my Football Manager 2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers Story.

Season 4, Episode 43

We’re back in action with a full schedule after the Qatar World Cup shook up our normal routine. A favourable set of fixtures await us this month as they all seem winnable with Spurs being the toughest of all the tests.

Liverpool haven’t been at their best this season and it could be the first time in three years the league trophy doesn’t head to Merseyside.

With no real runaway league leaders so far, the January transfer window may become pivotal in who lifts the trophy come the end of the season.

We’ve all lost at least two games in the league, so everyone is having their ups and downs.

I need to get my strikers firing as Haaland is currently doing most of the heavy lifting. Jota and Cutrone haven’t been at the races this year and I find it will be very hard to keep a title challenge going if we don’t find goals from elsewhere.

But before we head into the matches, lets take a look at some early business I conducted.

If you’ve missed an episode, why not take a look at my Episode Guide. Here you will find all the episodes of this story all in one place.

Welcome back to my Football Manager 2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers Story.

Season 4, Episode 42

We have quite a change in routine in the next two months, as the Qatar 2022 World Cup gets underway at the end of November.

The competition disrupts a lot of football across Europe, and we are no exception.

We have plenty of players going to the tournament with their respective national teams. While most of them will be getting minutes under their belt, I’m worried about the lads who are not going (such as Haaland, since Norway did not qualify). I hope the lack of game-time during these next two months won’t destabilize what we have already built so that this season.

I intend to schedule a few friendlies to keep everyone’s match fitness and morale up.

But before we dive into the World Cup, we have our last Champions League Group match to play, against Bayern Munich.

If you’ve missed an episode, why not take a look at my Episode Guide. Here you will find all the episodes of this story all in one place.

Welcome back to my Football Manager 2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers Story.

Season 4, Episode 41

The season is already shaping up to be an interesting one. Every team in the league has already been beaten at least once while we remain unbeaten in the ‘group of death’ which features A.C Milan, Bayern Munich and Valencia.

September was a fantastic month for us bar the shock West Ham result. It’s hard to point out why we weren’t at the races that day – sometimes things like that just happen in football. It’s a notoriously tricky game to predict.

This month see’s us face 5 top teams in a row with a combination of Premier League and Champions League fixtures. No doubt our limits will be tested, but I have faith in the boys to get results to help continue our impressive start to the season.

If you’ve missed an episode, why not take a look at my Episode Guide. Here you will find all the episodes of this story all in one place.

Welcome back to my Football Manager 2020 Wolverhampton Wanderers Story.

Season 4, Episode 40

Our dreaded group of death in the Champions League starts this month with three matches to fit in. A tough run of fixtures including the likes of Milan, Tottenham and Bayern Munich back-to-back will test how robust our squad is.

We’ve had a strong start to the league which see’s us sit in 3rd, while Tottenham have gone unbeaten in 6 and already have a four point gap at this short stage in the season.

An away fixture against them sandwiched in between two very tough Champions League matches is as hard as it gets.

Erling Haaland has started the campaign in fine form and I’m sure we’ll be relying on him a lot this season. We have however been falling short in front of goal, only scoring more than 1 goal once in our first eight matches.

If we are to challenge for a Champions League spot again, we need to be more clinical in front of goal. We need more goals from Haaland’s strike partners, and we need the likes of Fernandes, Neves and Tonali to chip in with more goals.

We’ve had a solid pre-season and transfer window. I believe we’ve bought and sold well. It’s been to my surprise that we received no bids for our star players. I was sure the likes of Jota, Neves and Mepham would gather interest from teams.

No doubt it helped that Jota signed a new deal with us, removing his £89m release clause in the progress.

The likes of Kimpembe will be thrown straight into the first team. He has a lot of experience and talent, and I expect him to settle in straight away.

We have our first chance of silverware so early on in the season, with a final to be played against Athletico Madrid in the UEFA Super Cup. We of course are the underdogs, but we are more than capable of lifting the trophy – which would be the first time in the clubs history.

Liverpool are the biggest opponents in the league this month, where we will face them at the back end. I hope we’ve amassed quite a few points by the time we get there – I want a strong start from my team.